December 22, 2006
Rocky Balboa
Two nights ago I saw the latest Rocky installment "Rocky Balboa."
Im not really intending to write a review it of here. In short, I thought the movie was "ok," kind of underwhelming in many ways but still Rocky. And I did really appreciate how nostalgic the movie made me feel at times and how Sylvester Stallone brought Rocky back to his roots. And above all, I really have to commend Stallone for his acting chops. I really have always thought that there is more to Stallone than meets the eye when it comes to his acting. The guy made me weep at the end of "First Blood" once (dont ask me why; he just did) and I thought he put forward a pretty stellar performance in "Copland." But Rocky is his baby. Rocky is where he always shines the most. And "Rocky Balboa" is no exception. Stallone puts forward a good performance, one worthy of Rocky. The movie has some flaws, but I think Stallone deserves some credit for getting it made and for putting himself out there.
What I really want to talk about is perhaps a bit more sappy. I want to talk about "what Rocky means to me." I realized as I watched "Rocky Balboa" the other night that Rocky has indeed been a father figure to me in many ways. I went through this wierd phase when I was about nine or ten years old when I was just obsessed with Sylvester Stallone. I wanted to watch all of his movies, and I wanted to watch them all of the time. For about a year straight, if I was ever watching a movie, it had to be a Sly movie. I looked up to the guy. I really worshipped the guy for a short time there. This is perhaps connected to the fact that my dad, before he divorced my mom and took off, once took me and my brother to see Rambo III. Usually when I have a distinct memory like that connected to my dad, I tend to transpose my dad onto something connected with that memory. Its wierd but true. I went from watching Rambo with my dad to making Rambo my dad. And I think it was right around the years of the divorce that I was obsessed with Stallone, mostly with Rambo and with Rocky.
There was a moment in the new movie the other night when Rocky has a heart to heart talk with his son. I realized that his son in the movie was probably exactly my age. After all, Rocky II (the film where his son was born) came out in 1979, my first year of life. So technically, I am the same age as Rocky's son. Heck, we were probably in the same high school class. And there is this moment in the new movie when Rocky is talking straight to his son telling him to be strong, to not be a coward, to fight. He says "its not how hard you can hit but how hard you can get hit!" And this moment in the movie moved me profoundly. It is something I wish a father had told me once. It meant so much to have Rocky saying it to me then. It was a genuine father/son moment, in its own warped way.
At the end of the film, when Rocky's son is coaching Rocky from behind the ropes, I honestly felt like it was me for a second. It was strange. But the father/son aspect of this film really connected with me. I cant even remember the first time I saw Rocky. I know I was really young. It was just one of those movies I feel like Ive always had in my consciousness. Its a part of who I am. Its a part of who I want to be. Theres a part of me that will always be hopping up and down at the top of the steps at the Philadelphia Art Museum. I know it sounds wierd to say that I feel I was raised in part by Sylvester Stallone, but in a way I feel I was. I sucked in his person when I was younger, and sucked in his ideals (mostly the Rocky ideals/not so much Rambo ideals), and just downright admired the guy. Some of his later films like Judge Dredd kind of killed that for me. But I held on to that for a while. And thats why seeing "Rocky Balboa" the other night was a special experience, even if the movie wasnt spectacular.